


Appreciation

by RitaM



Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Genre: Episode Related, Episode: s01e06 Ruddy Gore, F/M, Original Character-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-11-30 20:50:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11471445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RitaM/pseuds/RitaM
Summary: Jack the police detective is efficient, but lonely; Jack the husband is a failure. Here is a quiet moment when someone appreciates Jack the man... .





	Appreciation

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while since I posted or wrote anything at all, but. We have this thing with Partner where we teach English to non-English-speaking children and it is my sworn duty to introduce them to Miss Fisher! ;) So I've been rewatching it, got as far as Ruddy Gore (one of my favourites!) and here goes a quick character study!

Being attractive is something that Jack never gave much thought. He is a married man, no matter how difficult the marriage: he also faces risk on a daily basis, has survived a war and doesn't really consider attracting female company. He tries to make sure his collars are clean, or to avoid sleeping in his good jacket; makes sure to be clean-shaven. Modelling good behaviour for fledgling young officers is important and his own attractiveness doesn't come into it. 

(If women exhibit interest, it's the price he pays for being an authority figure. The job creates drastic circumstances and he provides support for his people. It's not personal and he makes sure to say as much to his sniggering constables, when such a thing occurs.)

Miss Fisher is this rare thing: a woman who makes him feel attractive, but without eliciting a guilt response.

It is patently obvious that she is a flirt. She tries it on him from the get go: being charming and faking obliviousness, leveraging the society's expectations about women for her own ends (that first meeting in the bathroom... a woman alone, indeed!). He is not that easy to manipulate and makes it known: from the beginning her behaviour provokes his suspicion rather than gallantry. Oddly enough, she seems to realise this, but never lets up - the flirtation becomes a game instead. After a while he forgets to grit his teeth; despite guarding the boundaries of professionalism, he allows himself to be amused.

The theatre case is a breakthrough. She does have a fake-legitimate reason to be there - as always - and almost dies for her trouble. He saves her, knowing that she would do the same for him. It is, oddly enough, like having a partner in the field. Somewhere in the building, Miss Fisher and her (possibly illegal, not that he looks too closely) gun are searching the place, holding the fort, fighting the good fight at his side.

She cracks it and he allows himself to be impressed. It never fails to astound, the lengths people will go to when executing revenge or possession. He rewards her with a little something of his personal history. Pirates of Penzance is an amusing episode from his own youth, harmless enough to share. Here he is, making her laugh, on the same stage where she could have died; enjoying this moment of closeness, budding friendship. His work gets so much of him, he muses - most of the time he forgets to be lonely. He is not lonely right then.

And if he wants to quote Shakespeare at her, compare her to one of the impossible flirts of ancient history... it's not like she minds. She's not offended; nor is she making sudden movements to make good on their flirtation. He's not the only game in town: Mr Lin has already taken her out to dinner, which reminded him sharply of his place in the order of things - but there is freedom in it, too. It's not like he wants more: he's just enjoying her appreciation - it's a rare treat. Jack the police detective is efficient, but lonely, and keeping his job is his only reward; Jack the husband is a failure and the less said of that, the better. But here, in the post-case quiet, with Shakespeare verse on his lips, he finds company in a woman who enjoys his presence. She might desire his body or professional connections, but even if nothing else is ever offered, she seems to appreciate Jack the man. 

The intimacy tastes much better than some fanciful, impossible romance ever could.


End file.
